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Recap: City Council on affordable housing

Here's a recap of our live coverage of tonight's Evanston City Council meeting at which aldermen are scheduled to discuss several proposals for increasing the supply of affordable housing in the city -- including removing a ban on renting coach houses to non-family members.

The meeting is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m.

A packet with information on tonight's agenda items is available online.

Meeting called to order at 6:09 p.m.

Starts with a special proclamation for Blake Edwards, the ETHS basketball player who made a spectacular shot over the weekend.

Other students offer examples of students being disadvantaged by the ordinance -- claims they're subjected to extortion because of it.

Peter Dalton compares fee-in-lieu program to paying substitutes for draftees during the Civil War.

Betsy Simmons says she grew up in Evanston but has had to move to Rogers Park after becoming homeless.

Sue Loellbach, Joining Forces or Affordable Housing, says prior two speakers have benefited from programs the City of Evanston has put together ... and they're on their way to stability -- but will be housing cost burdened for some time because there's not enough affordable housing in the region. Still a gap, no one program will fill it. Encourages city to put together plan to try to fill the gap and obtain the needed reosurces

Tina Paden says that as a landlord she works with a variety of programs to provide housing for low income residents. Says needs more resources to be able to pay the bills. Says very disappointed with the proposed landlored rehabilitation assistance program. Says it calls for loans rather than grants.

Complains that city has provided grants to business owners.

(In fact the business grants are structured as "forgivable loans" -- same as the proposed landlord assistance program.)

Carlis Sutton makes similar complaint to Paden's.

Priscilla Giles argues that towers downtown create crowding, not having four people in an apartment.

Council votes to send the proposal to Plan Commission ... without requesting a rent control provision.

SP3 - Landlord Rehabilitation Assistance Program

Wilson says he favors a trial of this program.

Rue Simmons says wants more than a five-year affordability period.

Flax says says affordablity period would vary from five to 15 years depending on the size of the grant.

Rue Simmons says up-front funding the match would be difficult.

Flax says the city has a different loan program doesn't require pre-payment.

Fleming suggests a cap on the amount of assistance to a particular landlord. Says would like to attract new landlords who aren't renting at affordable rates now.

Wilson says he agrees that the logistics of the program need to be done a little differently.

Says he's not uncomfortable with a tiered time frame for affordablity requirement.

Flax says could address the upfront money issue.

Rainey suggests not requiring a match from the landlord. Limiting the assistance to $5K per unit. Suggests using the CDBG rehab program for larger projects. Says that requires a few pages of paperwork -- but some owners have renovated entire buildings with that program.

Flax says that one restriction of the CDBG program is that if the property has eight or more units have to pay prevailing wage rates.

Rue Simmons says should use the proposed new program or structural and major maintenance issues -- not cosmetics.

Revelle says she agrees with Rue Simmons about addressing major needs.

City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz says can come back with a revised proposal at the Feb. 26 meeting of the Administration and Public Works Committee.

Says there are some contradictory issues on the table -- may need to come back with multiple scenarios then.

Mayor says he favors a plan that would require a match by the landlord -- says people need to have skin in the game to make the program successful.

(Lengthy discussion continues)

Council votes to send proposal back to staff or revision and then to A&PW committee.

SP4 - Rooming Houses Research

Alderman Judy Fiske, 1st Ward, asks how many of the properties on the map are licensed.

Savannah Clement, of city staff, says all of them are licensed. (Most of those listed are NU dorms, then hotels. Actually only about seven are what would typically be considered rooming houses.)

Fiske says should be focused on single-family owner-occupied homes that could be rooming houses -- could facilitate agiing in place.

Says should have inspections frequently -- supposedly now rooming houses are inspected twice a year.

Rainey says there's no protection for tenants living in rooming houses. Can be locked out if don't pay rent on time. Can be thrown out if the rooming house owner doesn't like you. Says landlord-tenant ordinance doesn't apply. For those reasons she doesn't like them.

Rainey says she wants to remove the three-unrelated rule. Says there's not reason for it. Says already have a law that limits the number of people per square foot.

"We need to put on our big girl pants and allow that," she says.

"We've got to come into this century and change that law," Rainey says.